I currently have a laptop as my primary business PC, but the battery just died and I am looking at "upgrading". Since the laptop never leaves the desk, it makes little sense to purchase another one, especially since I can get a bigger monitor with a standard setup, which would be welcome.

I cannot afford "extra" desk space loss not related to monitor, KB and mouse and my desk has no space below it for a tower, so my options are as follows:

1- Purchase something similar to an "old style" desktop and mount the monitor on top.2- Purchase a smaller system that can be set below the monitor / mounted on a VESA bracket behind the monitor.3- Have the PC on a shelf behind me and route USB and HDMI cables to the desk (almost ilimited horizontal clearance, max 37 cm vertical, max 34 depth including cable bending clearance).

It will be a business set up (so, integrated graphics) with (probably) an i5 and SSD drive (single unit) and an optical drive on the front. Front accessible USB ports would also be a plus. I don't care for expansion capability (be it drive bays or slots).

My sticking point here is finding a case that will suit my needs AND be silent enough. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for the reply. The idea of a VESA mount would be to mount the unit at the back of the monitor, rather than the other way around, so the Chieftec is no good.

After some careful considerations, I think I narrowed it down in terms of possibilities:

1 - Vesa mount it behind the monitor - and in this case I don't care for ODD (will get an external + a usb 3.0 hub), but the PSU will have to comfortably (and quietly) live with a 77W TDP CPU + SSD + MB + power to USB ports.

2 - Have in the shelf behind me. I can probably make it taller (so height >37 cm), but I don't want to make it overly deep (I am keeping the <34 cm depth). In this case it should take an ODD.

I decided going with a mATX mounted on the shelf behind my desk. I cannot trust an mITX system to be able to hold a 77W TDP CPU comfortably.

In terms of case size, I also decided to have it sitting on the shelf sideways (90º), due to the short "depth" (34 cm). From what I read here at SCPR, the SST TJ08-E seems to be a safe-ish bet, but I am open to alternatives (total height can be up to 40-45 cm, but NO conectors at the top, please).

In terms of PSU, I would like a modular, not-too-expensive unit but I am having a hard time finding anything decent below 75 €. The BeQuiet units (Pure and Straight versions) can be found below that price, but the reviews I've read point out to severe fluctuations on the 3.3 V line. Any help here would be highly appreciated!

The TJ08E is a fine case but you will need to undervolt the frontal fan, even on the low preset, around 900rpm, it's not by any men's quiet, you need to drop it around 600rpm to be decent, so grab a Zalman fanmate2 and play with it until you find acceptable for you, i hide mine on the back of the case, right next to the PSU where there is enough space to stick it and keep it hidden.

To me it could be made reasonable silent, if you don't need the pcie slot, i'd add a Big Shuriken 2. Then fine tune the fan and pick your PSU. Since you list no HDD, vibrations won't occur. Looks to me like it's doable.

I don't inted to add a card now, but I like to keep my options open, so a free slot can come in handy in the future (another reason why I am only looking at 300W+ CPU). The "K" version has nothing to do with being unlock, but rather with it having the 4000 HD IGP (the non-K version has the 3000, for some strange reason).

Well, standard Office work and browsing for most of the time, but also some computacional engineering simulation packages and some heavy Excel spreadsheets (several in parallel and with cross calculations).

Another option for a mini ITX, since you already considering desktop cases, i think you should look into Lian Li PC-Q11 / Black / Mini Tower Case w/ USB 3.0, single 140mm frontal fan (i would exchange the fan for Noiseblocker NB-BlackSilentPro PK-1) and can fit standard PSU (has a limitation on lenght though), i still see the G360 as very viable for this, as you dont have a dedicated gpu, but it will work with a lot of PSU. On the CPU cooler you could pair it with Scythe Shuriken, thermalright AXP 140 (the included fan wont fit, you need a slim one), or the new therlarmight AXP-100 (this might be viable, as its smaller than axp-140 and has a low profile fan). I'll leave with a big thread of builds with it, where you can see final builds and what psu/cpu coolers they used, New Lian Li PC- Q11 itx case : Specification & Feature, btw the case can still fit decent GPU in case in the future you decide to.

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